76
RADIOLOGICAL CLEANUP OF ENEWETAK ATOLL
Planning and Programming
After consideration of comments on the drafts, the AEC Task Group
19
recommendations (discussed below) were published in final form on
June 1974. At a meeting of the Commissioners of the AEC on 12 August
1974, the recommendations were approved and subsequently forwarded to
DNA on 16 August 1974.59 The Director, DNA responded on 20 August
1974, advising the AEC that the recommendations had been adopted and
:
would be reflected in the DEIS.®!
Ree
or Bikini Atoll.
eee
concern that numerical standards provided for Enewetak would be
misconstrued or misapplied to other locations such as the Nevada Test Site
me
advise on plutonium cleanup operations.°? Others in AEC expressed
for
The Task Group Report pointed out that the tasks required
and
cleanup
Bikini
the
for
out
Enewetak were similar to those carried
rehabilitation,®2 andit stated that its recommendations for Enewetak were
Bikini
therefore similar to those that guided cleanup and rehabilitation of
Atoll.63
for
The Task Group Report adopted radiation protection criteria
that
ded
evaluation of the significance of dose estimates, and it recommen
the samecriteria be used for planning the cleanup and rehabilitation. The
criteria for dose limit to individuals were set at 50 percent of the Federal
Radiation Council (FRC) annualrate limit, and 80 percent of the FRC 30year genetic limit. These more stringent criteria were deemed appropriate
recommended a living pattern which would not actually require a
at other
point out that any guidance it offered would not apply to the AEC
e on
guidanc
ended
recomm
Report
Group
Task
the
locations. Thus,
e
guidanc was
plutonium in soil that was unique to Enewetak Atoll. This
ed 400
that soil should be removed if the plutonium concentration exceed
wasless
pCi/g of soil, and that it could be left in place if the concentration
-
oo
-—
practicable level.’’6
Group port calcio tO
therefore considered Sot and the lask Re
m
a. Residence and agriculture (exc ept coconuts)
:
would be restrict
|
|
southern islands.
ate
b, Coconuts could be grown on northeast islands for subsistence and
commercial purposes.
c. Fishing could be conducted anywhere.
use or recommend these FRC criteria. Instead, the Task Group Report
recommendedthat the population dose ‘“‘should be kept to the minimum
spensionat Enewetak. The Task Group Report singled out the soil-resu
not
could
experts
which
on
one
key
a
as
inhalation pathway for plutonium
was
soil
in
ium
pluton
on
ce
Guidan
properly.
dose
e
w to estimat
periods of time ranging from 5 to 70 years. Since the Task Group adopted
annual rate criteria to evaluate estimates, additional calculations were
made, and the results of these calculations were included in the Task
Group Report. Additionally, doses were estimated for bone marrow
rather than entire bone as had been done for the NVO-140 Report.
The Task Group Report added the dose estimates in numerous wa st
obtain total estimates for various living patterns. The living patterns Wy °
structured to include preferences expressed by the dri-Enewetak “In
combining estimates to produce total dose, the Task Group Report tested
the improvements gained by adding clean soil to contaminated soil by
plowing contaminated soil, and by restricling the growing of certain cro S
iheTask Group Report was not enthusiastic about these alternatives ‘or
via the dietary
removal
pathway
as a6depe
pendable and feasible
i
method for reducing dose
cleanup. Key features ofthis living pattern were that:
uncertainty in predicting doses.64 Although the Task Group Report
discussed the FRC annual rate limits for population as a whole, it did not
ides
for evaluating dose via these pathways, andfor all significant radionucl
than 40 pCi/g. For concentrations in the range of 40-400 pCi/g, decisio
should be made on a case-by-case basis, considering the potential is] ‘d
use, the plutonium concentration near the ground surface, the potential
for erosion, and the amount of effort involved in removing soil
.
The NVO-140 Report had presented integrated dose estimates for
After . comparing dose estimates against adopted criteria. and
considering the desires of the dri-Enewetak, the Task Group Re ort
level of
so that individuals would not receive doses at the maximum
for
current U.S. standards from weapon-test residue alone and to account
al
The Task Group Report noted that no criteria existed for radiologic
pathways
definite
were
contamination of soil and food and that there
The
whereby such contamination .could lead to dose to individuals.
especially
data
ental
environm
Enewetak Radiological Survey had obtained
77
d. Any island except Runit could be visited.
Minimum cleanup recommendations were offered to provide better
assurance that the dose for the recommended living pattern would be
minimized. These recommendations werethat:
a, All radioactive scrap metal be removed.
b. Contaminated debris in ‘‘burial sites’? be removed.
c. Runit be quarantined until plutonium contamination thereon was
removed.
-
Sr oe
The AEC Task Group Report also recommendedthat additional studies
be conducted prior to rehabilitation to determine radioactivity in coconut
and other food crops, in lens water, and in air under conditions
approximating human habitation; and that after rehabilitation, continuing